FACT CHECKER: Truths, Lies From Ruto’s State of the Nation Address
In his State of the Nation address to Parliament on Thursday, President William Ruto highlighted how awful the economy was when he took office in 2022.
Ruto boasted of successfully steering a turnaround in the correct direction.
The Head of State also mentioned key sectoral reforms during his little more than an hour-long speech.
He also detailed an ambitious new blueprint to transform Kenya into a developed country modeled after the Asian Tigers nations of Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia, which he estimates will cost at least Ksh.5 trillion.
However, some of the figures he mentioned did not match those in the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ 2025 Economic Survey Report.
The KNBS study includes the most recent full-year statistics from 2024, the official government data source, while others are unverifiable.
Citizen TV carried out a data point analysis where they facted checked Ruto's claims during State of the Nation Address and only 1 thing was found to be true.
— Conrad Kulo (@ConradKulo) November 20, 2025
He lies any time he takes a mic. You wonder why some Mpigs were shouting 2 term. pic.twitter.com/AcPfk3eAZL
Here’s a fact check of his claims:
AFFORDABLE HOUSING JOBS
October 2024 – 160,000
November 2024 – 164,000
December 2024 – 200,000
March 2025 – 244,232
August 2025 – 320,000
November 2025 – 428,000
Verdict: Unverifiable
Source: President Ruto
SUGAR IMPORTS
Ruto’s Claim: Imports – 70% down
Fact – 44% down
2023 – 608,200 MT
2024 – 339,300 MT
Source: KNBS
Verdict: Inconsistent
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MAIZE PRODUCTION
Claim: 67 million bags in 2024
Fact: 44.7 million bags produced
Source: KNBS
Verdict: Inconsistent
TVET ENROLLMENT
Claim: 718,000
Fact: 709,885
Verdict: Inconsistent
Source: KNBS
PAVED ROADS
Claim – 22,000 km
Fact – 24,868 km
Source: KNBS – 2025
Verdict: Inconsistent
MILK PRODUCTION
Claim – 5.3 billion litres
Fact – 5.3 billion litres
Verdict: Consistent
Source: KNBS
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
Claim: From 60 billion (2021) to Ksh.195 billion (2024)
Fact: From 268.4 billion (2021) to Ksh.428.8 billion (2024)
Verdict: Inconsistent
Source: KNBS
FACT CHECKER: Truths, Lies From Ruto’s State of the Nation Address
